AN  APPEAL  TO 


The  Lutheran  Church 
of  America 


FROM 

THE  MOHAMMEDAN 
WORLD  WITH  ITS 


200,000.000  IMMORTAL 
::  ::  SOULS  ::  :: 


OUR  DUTY  and  PRIVILEGE: 

The  3,500,000  Mohammedan  Kurds 
for  Christ 


1915 


Published  by  the 

Inter-Synodical  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Orient  Mission  Society 


Our  Mission  Field 

A S the  Kurds  are  Mohammedans,  we  shall 
here  refer  briefly  to  Arabia,  the  cradle  of 
Mohammedanism.  In  Gen.  10:30  it  is  called 
“A  mount  of  the  East.”  Arabia  is  a peninsula, 
and  is  a connecting  link  between  Asia  and  Africa. 
It  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Red  Sea;  on 
the  south  by  the  Indian  Ocean;  on  the  east 
by  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  River  Euphrates; 
and  on  the  north  by  Mesopotamia.  The  coun- 
try rises  gradually  to  a mountain  plateau  of 
rugged  beauty.  Here  checkered  fields  and  beau- 
tiful palm  gardens  form  a fascinating  panorama. 
The  great  Arabian  desert  measures  650  miles 
from  north  to  south,  and  850  miles  from  east 
to  west,  and  covers  one-half  of  Arabia.  The 
climate  is  mild,  and  the  country  has  a great 
abundance  of  health-springs. 

To  the  north  of  this  territory  lies  Kurdistan 
with  its  ancient  city  of  Arbela,  near  which  Alex- 
ander defeated  Darius  in  331  B.  C.  Kurdistan 
— now  no  longer  a political  unit — lies  between 
34  and  38  north  latitude  and  32  and  47  east 
longitude,  and  is  now  partly  under  Turkish  and 
partly  under  Persian  rule.  The  city  of  Soujbou- 
lag,  with  its  20,000  inhabitants,  lies  approxi- 
mately in  the  same  latitude  as  Nashville,  Tenn., 
and  has  a most  interesting  location.  About  200 
miles  to  the  north  lies  Mt.  Ararat;  about  250 
miles  to  the  south  is  the  site  of  ancient  Babylon; 
and  only  a short  distance  to  the  west  lies  the 
ancient  city  of  Nineveh. 


THE  PEOPLE 


In  Arabia  live  the  descendants  of  Shem’s 
great-grandson,  Joktan.  (Gen.  10:21  et  seq.) 
The  word  “Arabia”  may  mean  desert  dwellers. 
Many  Arabians  are  nomads  — wanderers — 
others  are  farmers  and  tradesmen.  The  country 
became  an  asylum  for  Jews  and  later  for  Chris- 
tians. Jews  immigrated  to  Mecca  during  the 
reign  of  David.  The  Arabians  early  became 
idolaters,  but  influenced  by  the  Jews  some  be- 
came Theists,  and  believers  in  an  existence  after 
death.  The  son  of  Hagar,  Ishmael,  cast  his 
lot  with  the  Arabians.  Gen.  16:11-12  tells  the 
future  of  Hagar’s  son,  and  in  21:18  is  recorded 
God’s  promise  to  make  of  him  a great  people 
of  twelve  tribes.  Gen.  25:11-18  tells  that  these 
twelve  tribes  “dwelt  from  Havila  unto  Shur,” 
where  they  built  towns  and  castles. 

KURDISTAN 

Thus  was  effected  an  amalgamation  of  the 
ancient  Arabians — the  descendants  of  Shem — 
with  the  descendants  of  Abraham  through  the 
son  of  the  bondwoman. 

It  is  due  to  this  that  the  Mohammedans  also 
regard  Abraham  as  their  father.  Their  rule  of 
circumcision  is  Gen.  17:25,  which  places  the 
age  of  the  child  at  thirteen  years,  as  against  the 
eight-day  age  with  the  Jews. 

KURDS 

If  the  words  of  Gen.  16:12,  “And  he  will 
be  a wild  man,”  are  true  of  any  tribe  more  than 
of  others,  it  must  be  so  for  the  Kurds.  They  are 
4 


the  most  savage  of  all  the  Asiatics.  They  are 
known  as  thieves  and  robbers,  and  have  fre- 
quently persecuted  Oriental  Christians.  They 
hail  from  the  Kurdish  mountains.  Though 
many  are  lawless  bandits,  acknowledging  no 
authority,  they  are  divided  into  many  tribes,  all 
known  for  bravery  and  vengefulness.  They  are 
a people  hard  to  classify  ethnologically ; most 
likely  they  constitute  a mixture  of  Assyrians, 
Arabians,  Babylonians,  and  Chaldeans.  In  their 
language  scholars  say  that  the  Arabian,  Persian, 
and  Syrian  elements  can  easily  be  traced. 

MOHAMMEDANS 

Few  Christians  have  made  a study  of  Mo- 
hammedanism. It  is  more  bold  and  aggressive, 
more  persistent  and  obstinate  than  any  creed 
met  with  in  heathen  lands.  Every  Moham- 
medan is  a mission  worker,  and  claims  the 
Orient  for  Islam.  There  is  an  awakening,  a 
regeneration,  among  the  Mohammedans.  Islam 
recedes  politically,  but  makes  inroads  religiously. 
For  one  Mohammedan  converted  to  Christianity, 
there  are  one  hundred  heathen  converted  to 
Islam.  The  Mohammedans  are  aiming  to  make 
Islam  the  religion  of  the  whole  world. 

The  Kurds  are  Mohammedans,  and  are  di- 
vided equally  between  the  Sunni  and  the  Shi’i 
denominations. 

Mohammedanism  has  many  dark  sides;  its 
religion  and  politics  are  one  and  the  same.  Its 
civilization  is  not  far  in  advance  of  barbarism. 
Its  institutions  of  polygamy  and  slavery  are 
suggestive  of  its  inhumane  spirit.  A man  may 
have  four  wives  and  any  number  of  concubines. 

5 


Kidnapping  is  prevalent.  The  stolen  are  sold. 
At  the  sales  a maiden  is  disposed  of  for  from 
$150  to  $200,  and  a man  for  from  $75  to  $200. 
Yet  moral  strength  and  religious  devotion  are 
often  shown  by  many  intelligent  and  fine  per- 
sonalities. Such  we  find  especially  in  the  “Young 
Turk  Movement.”  Mohammedans  are  waking 
up  from  a long  stupor.  They  are  fast  realizing 
that  there  are  other  means  of  propagating  their 
faith  than  the  sword.  Mr.  Zwemer  mentions  no 
less  than  eighteen  magazines  devoted  to  the  sub- 
ject and  study  of  the  Mohammedan  world.  Of 
these,  two  are  published  in  Berlin,  one  in  Paris, 
one  in  England,  one  in  Pekin,  one  in  Cairo,  and 
one  in  St.  Petersburg.  The  one  last  mentioned 
is  considered  the  best  of  the  Mohammedan  pub- 
lications. Cairo  has  86  newspapers,  which  in- 
dicates that  Mohammedan  illiteracy  is  not  as 
universal  as  we  sometimes  are  apt  to  think. 

“Not  only  do  we  face  the  whole  Moham- 
medan world,  not  only  do  we  know  the  Mo- 
hammedan world  as  we  have  never  known  it 
before,  but  today  we  are  facing  a political 
situation  that  is  absolutely  unprecedented." 

THE  MISSIONARY  CHALLENGE 

There  is  a cry  from  the  Mohammedan  world 
for  teachers,  preachers,  and  physicians.  Who 
will  heed  the  cry?  Who  will  say,  “Here  am 
I”?  Here  are  mine,  all  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  good  of  mankind.  Our  day  of  oppor- 
tunity is  now.  God  wills  it.  May  we  say,  His 
holy  ivill  shall  be  my  holy  law.  I will  give  all 
into  God’s  hand. 

We,  the  Children  of  the  Reformation,  owe 

6 


a debt  to  the  Mohammedan  world.  Indirectly 
Islam  favored  the  Reformation  by  keeping 
Charles  V so  busy  that  he  could  not  stamp 
out  the  fire  which  Luther  kindled.  Now  let 
us  pay  the  debt  we  owe  by  giving  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  the  Mohammedan  world.  It  is 
also  a debt  of  love  we  owe  to  a big  Savior  and 
to  a big  world. 

THE  BIG  WORLD 


According  to  the  most  recent  estimate  the 
Mohammedans  are  distributed  as  follows: — 

India 67,500,000 

Dutch  East  India 35,250,000 

Russian  Empire 20,000,000 

Arabia 2,250,000 

Afghanistan 5,000,000 

Persia 4,500,000 

China 8,500,000 

South  America 166,000 

Australia 19,000 

North  America  (Pacific  Coast  and 

New  England) 8,000 

Other  places 56,907,000 

Total 200,000,000 

These  figures  may  be  taken  as  quite  correct. 
The  Mohammedans  claim  300,200,000,  which  is 
too  large  a number.  Truly  a large  field,  and  in 
this  field  the  Lutheran  Church  has  done  no  work, 
except  that  which  is  being  done  by  the  Inter- 
Synodical  Evangelical  Lutheran  Orient  Mission 
Society. 

THE  MISSION  SLOGANS 

When  the  missionary  conference  met  at 
Cairo,  Egypt,  in  1906,  there  were  29  missionary 
7 


societies  represented,  and  the  following  appeal 
was  issued: 

“We,  who  have  assembled  from  many  Chris- 
tian and  Mohammedan  lands,  and  who  know 
Islam  in  all  its  phases,  do  most  earnestly  entreat 
the  entire  Protestant  Church  with  renewed  zeal 
and  energy  to  take  up  work  among  the  Mo- 
hammedans. We  ask  you  to  further  and 
strengthen  this  work:  First,  by  preparing  and 

sending  out  more  laborers  among  the  Moham- 
medans; second,  by  flooding  the  whole  Moham- 
medan world  with  Gospel  literature;  third,  by 
occupying  every  strategic  centre  with  Protestant 
missions;  fourth,  by  inaugurating  a world-wide 
spiritual  crusade  for  the  conquest  of  Islam,  in 
order  to  put  a stop  to  the  proselyting  influence 
of  Islamism  upon  the  world,  and  win  the  Mo- 
hammedans for  Christ.” 

In  1913  a conference  for  work  among  the 
Mohammedans  was  held  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  It  was  a representative  gathering,  well 
acquainted  with  the  Moslem  problems.  Speak- 
ers at  this  conference  emphasized  the  fact  that 
there  are  three  centres  of  Mohammedanism,  viz: 
Constantinople,  the  political  centre;  Mecca,  the 
religious  centre;  and  Cairo,  the  intellectual 
centre.  The  political  centre  has  been  weakened 
more  and  more.  The  religious  centre  will  soon 
be  invaded  and  broken  up.  The  intellectual 
centre  is  shaken  by  conflict  between  the  ancient 
and  the  modern  educational  factors.  Everywhere 
in  Moslem  lands  reform  movements  are  seen 
and  felt.  If  brain,  heart,  and  lungs  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan world  be  destroyed,  then  Moham- 
medanism will  die. 


8 


At  the  conference  in  Cairo  in  1906  one  motto 
read:  "Africa  for  Christ.”  This  was  the  Chris- 
tian motto.  Later,  a Moslem  conference  was 
held.  Its  motto  was:  "Asia  and  Africa  for 
Mohammed."  There  can  be  no  compromise; 
no  half  and  half.  It  must  be  either  Jesus  or 
Mohammed;  the  Cross  or  the  Crescent.  Will 
the  Church  of  Christ  devise  ways  and  means 
to  combat  Mohammedanism? 

In  spite  of  all  setbacks,  the  day  of  opportunity 
has  come.  Christian  missionaries  are  at  work 
in  Arabia,  Persia,  and  Turkey.  The  Bible  is 
translated  into  all  the  languages  of  western  Asia. 
Our  own  missionary,  Rev.  L.  O.  Fossum,  is 
editing  the  four  Gospels  for  the  Ijirge  Kurdish 
tribe  which  centers  about  Soujboulag,  our  mis- 
sion centre.  Evangelical  missions  alone  can  stem 
the  tide  of  Mohammedanism.  Mohammedans 
are  fatalists,  and  hence  most  formidable  in 
war.  We  must  Christianize  the  heathen,  or  they 
will  heathenize  us.  We  must  give  the  Moslem 
world  the  Bible  instead  of  the  Koran,  the  law 
of  the  Lord  instead  of  the  Sheriat. 

LUTHERAN  MOHAMMEDAN  MISSION 

The  Inter-Synodical  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Orient  Mission  Society  was  organized  in  Chi- 
cago, 111.,  in  1910,  and  was  incorporated  in  1913. 
Its  object  is  work  among  the  Mohammedan 
Kurds  in  Persia.  The  leading  spirit  in  the  move- 
ment was  Rev.  L.  O.  Fossum,  who  had  been 
in  the  Orient  looking  over  the  field. 

When  the  World  Conference  of  Missions 
met  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  in  1911,  the  chief 
burden  was:  “The  evangelization  of  all  non- 
9 


Christian  people.”  Eight  commissions  had  done 
preliminary  work,  and  made  a complete  survey 
of  the  mission  fields  of  the  world.  The  un- 
occupied fields  were  apportioned  as  far  as  it 
could  be  done  among  the  Evangelical  church 
bodies,  and  our  society  was  made  responsible  for 
the  mission  among  the  Mohammedan  Kurds, 
who  number  about  3,500,000.  At  the  organiza- 
tion meeting  of  our  society,  pastors  from  12 
Lutheran  church  bodies  were  present  and  took 
part  in  the  deliberations  which  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  the  society.  Friendly  greetings 
were  received  from  the  General  Lutheran  Con- 
ference of  Europe,  which  then  met  at  Upsala, 
Sweden.  As  far  as  we  know,  our  society  is  the 
only  Lutheran  organization  carrying  on  mission 
work  among  Mohammedans.  We  are  the  only 
society  carrying  on  work  among  the  three  and 
a half  million  Kurds.  The  Kurds  must  be 
converted  to  the  Lutheran  faith,  or  they  will 
not  be  converted  to  Christianity  at  all — unless 
the  Lutheran  Church  should  say  that  it  wants 
the  Lutheran  Orient  Mission  Society  to  sur- 
render the  field  to  other  Protestant  or  Catholic 
missions. 

In  our  effort  to  evangelize  the  Kurds  we  are 
affiliated  with  the  Hermannsburgers  of  Germany, 
and  we  hope  to  affiliate  with  Lutheran  societies 
in  other  Lutheran  lands. 

So  far  our  mission  force  has  consisted  of 
three  missionaries  sent  from  America,  and  three 
from  Europe.  Two  more  were  on  their  way  to 
the  field  and  came  only  as  far  as  Constantinople. 
Being  Germans,  they  had  to  return  to  their 
homes,  as  the  husband  was  a member  of  the 
“Landwehr”  and  was  called  into  the  service  of 
the  “Fatherland.”  At  present  our  mission  is 
sharing  the  fate  of  many  other  missions.  But 
our  trust  is  in  the  Lord.  It  is  His  work,  and 
10 


He  shall  prosper  it.  But  we  must  not  be  idle, 
and  use  the  present  complications  as  an  excuse 
for  lack  of  activity.  We  must  now  prepare  to 
take  up  the  work  with  renewed  force  when  the 
war-cloud  has  passed  over.  That  will  be  the 
golden  time  of  missions  in  the  Orient.  Let  us 
be  ready  to  make  the  most  of  it  for  the  Lord. 

CAN  THERE  BE  ANY  EXCUSE  FOR 
INDIFFERENCE? 

Has  not  each  synod  enough  with  its  own 

! missions?  No  doubt  we  all  have  all  we  can  do 
for  the  present,  each  in  our  respective  fields. 
But  shall  no  new  imperative  enterprise  be  un- 
dertaken until  the  present  task  has  been  done? 
That  is  not  the  way  our  synods  have  done  up  to 
the  present  time.  And  is  there  any  reason  why 
they  should  begin  to  do  so  now?  Is  Matt.  28:18 
to  be  interpreted  as-  limited  to  what  we  now 
have?  Did  the  great  missionary  models  give  the 
Church  of  our  day  such  a’ precedent?  On  the 

I contrary,  does  not  the  Word  of  God  indicate 
that  we  must  hasten  to  bring  the  Gospel  to  all 
men?  Paul  did  not  stay  in  Pamphylia,  Galatia, 
and  Lydia  till  all  the  Jews  there  were  con- 
verted to  Christianity.  He  hastened  on  to 
Macedonia — where  God  gave  him  a call  through 
a special  vision, — thence  to  Achaia,  and  hoped 
even  to  reach  Italy  and  Spain.  He  was  im- 
pelled by  the  Divine  Spirit,  to  which  he  yielded 
implicit  obedience.  This  did  not  give  him  per- 
mission to  excuse  himself  by  saying:  I have 

enough  to  do  here  in  Pamphylia;  I can  and  will 
do  nothing  for  those  in  Macedonia  until  I have 
finished  here. 

Is  there  not  a danger  that  this  concern  for 
our  particular  field  becomes  an  excuse  for  un- 
willingness to  render  obedience  to  the  Savior’s 
last  command?  There  is  a spirit  of  Mammon- 

11 


ism,  which  says  that  these  new  claims  have  no 
right  to  present  themselves,  and  “our  special 
fields”  must  be  protected  by  excluding  the  ap- 
peal from  such  fields.  This  is  a mistaken  idea 
which  is  not  only  terribly  inconsistent  with  the 
Word  of  God,  but  is  also  inconsistent  with  the 
facts  of  history.  No  congregation  has  ever  been 
ruined  by  too  much  work  for  missions,  either  by 
the  pastor  or  by  other  missionary  advocates.  But 
many  congregations  suffer  from  lethargy  and 
atrophy  due  to  ignorance  regarding  missionary 
claims  and  opportunities.  May  God  deliver  our 
Christian  Church  from  the  unchristian  timidity 
which  limits  God’s  claims  on  it,  to  that  which 
each  church  calls  its  own  at  the  present  time! 

Who  would  ever  say  that  the  Jewish  mission 
or  the  Santhal  mission  has  caused  a falling  off  in 
the  receipts  of  our  synodical  mission  treasuries? 
Is  it  not  rather  so,  that  those  congregations 
which  have  contributed  most  freely  to  these 
missions  are  the  congregations  that  have  become 
the  strongest  supporters  of  the  missions  in  their 
respective  synods?  These  are  facts  and  not  as- 
sumptions. These  other  missions  have  been  in- 
struments in  God’s  hands  to  create  a true  sense 
of  missions — a sense  which  can  never  take  pos- 
session of  congregations  which  have  their  sphere 
of  information  and  influence  limited  by  that 
which  is  their  own  special  field.  Those  who 
close  their  ears  to  the  call  from  God’s  vineyard, 
do  so  at  the  risk  of  losing  great  spiritual  bless- 
ings. 

Is  it  reasonable  that  the  appeal  from 
200,000,000  Mohammedans,  which  now  for  the 
first  time  comes  to  the  Lutheran  Church  in  a 
tangible  form,  shall  work  as  a check  on  the  con- 
tributions to  those  missions  earlier  established? 
If  that  is  to  be  the  case,  the  course  of  missions 
must  change  into  other  lines  than  it  has  followed 

12 


before.  Can  this  be  a Macedonian  call  to  which 
the  Church  ought  to  turn  a deaf  ear?  Is  this 
the  bleeding  Lazarus  that  we  can  let  lie  unaided 
without  bringing  God’s  displeasure  upon  us? 
Can  we  find  a valid  reason — not  an  excuse — 
for  not  listening  to  this  call  from  the  unchris- 
tian world?  Can  the  foe  of  God  and  missions 
make  any  Christian,  who  takes  God’s  command 
seriously,  let  personal  preferences  or  animosities 
dictate  his  attitude  to  a people  which  needs 
Christ  as  much  as  do  the  Kurds?  Enmity  may 
do  so,  but  never  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

We  are  assured  that  every  true  Christian 
knows  what  Isaiah  54:2-3  means  in  this  con- 
nection. “Enlarge  the  place  of  thy  tent,  and 
let  them  stretch  forth  the  curtains  of  thine 
habitations:  spare  not,  lengthen  thy  cords,  and 
strengthen  thy  stakes;  for  thou  shalt  break  forth 
on  the  right  hand  and  the  left ; and  thy  seed 
shalt  inherit  the  Gentiles  and  make  the  desolate 
cities  to  be  inhabited.” 

Let  our  people  be  educated  with  regard  to 
the  Mohammedan  world.  Let  there  be  sys- 
tematic co-operation  of  members  of  the  Lu- 
theran Church  with  our  Mohammedan  mission 
board,  for  the  Moslem  problem  concerns  us  all. 
Read  Rev.  Ph.  Lamartine’s  “An  Appeal  to  the 
Church  in  Behalf  of  the  Mission  to  the  Mo- 
hammedans,” and  Fossum’s  “Mohammedanis- 
men” — a Norwegian  publication. 

Our  hope  and  confidence  in  this  mission  is 
not  in  ourselves;  not  in  money  or  material;  not 
in  acquired  experiences  or  methods  and  agen- 
cies; not  in  brilliancy  and  popularity  of  leaders; 
not  in  statesmen  and  politicians;  not  in  en- 
thusiastic forward  movements;  not  in  inspiring 
watchwords;  “Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but 
by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts”  (Zech. 
4:6). 


13 


A FORM  OF  BEQUEST 


I,  of  the  County 

of and  State  of 


being  of  lawful  age  and  sound  mind,  do  make, 
publish  and  declare  my  last  Will  and  Testament 
to  be  as  follows: 

FIRST.  I direct  that  all  my  just  debts  and 
funeral  expenses  be  first  paid  out  of  my  estate. 

SECOND.  I bequeath  and  devise  to: 


THIRD.  I bequeath  and  devise  to 


FOURTH.  I bequeath  and  devise  to  The 
Inter -Synodical  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Orient  Mission  Society 


I direct  that  this  legacy  be  paid  to  the  said 
Inter-Synodical  Evangelical  Lutheran  Orient 
Mission  Society  unconditionally , for  its  own  use, 
and  not  in  trust,  but  advise  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  said  Society  to  expend  the  same  as 
follows: 


FIFTH.  All  the  rest  and  residue  of  my 
estate,  both  real  and  personal,  and  wheresoever 
situated,  I bequeath  and  devise  as  follows: 


14 


SIXTH.  I nominate  and  appoint 

of the  executor  of 

this  my  last  IV ill  and  Testament. 

IN  IVITNESS  WHEREOF-  I have  pub- 
lished and  declared  this  to  be  my  last  Will  and 
Testament  and  hereunto  subscribe  my  name  at 

this day  of 

19 

The  foregoing  instrument  ivas  subscribed  by 

the  testator  herein 

named,  at  the  time  and  place  therein  stated  and 
published  and  declared  by  him  to  be  his  last 
Will  and  Testament,  and  at  the  same  time  and 
place,  at  his  request,  and  in  his  presence,  and  in 
the  presence  of  each  other,  we  hereunto  sub- 
scribed our  names  as  witnesses. 

Residing  at 

Residing  at 


15 


BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES  AND  ITS  OR- 
GANIZATION FOR  1915 


Rev.  N.  J.  L0hre,  President 
518  Walnut  St.,  Grand  Forks,  N.  Dak. 


Rev.  H.  Mackensen,  Secretary 
196  Berlin  Stv  Detroit,  Mich. 

Rev.  Ph: — ^(martine,  Treasurer 


Qkte.y,  Philadelphia, 


>hia,  J*a- 


Rev.  N.  Arvesen St.  Olaf,  Iowa 

Rev.  C.  Rembold Arlington,  Iowa 

Rev.  L.  H.  Ziemer Mansfield,  Ohio 

Prof.  M.  O.  Wee Red  Wing,  Minn. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Roseland Silverton,  Oregon 

Rev.  Wm.  Hartwig Detroit,  Mich. 


FIELD  SECRETARIES 


Rev.  J.  J.  Breidablik 
217  N.  Brooks  St.,  Madison,  Wis. 

Rev.  Ph.  Lamartine 
Olney,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Rev.  J.  J.  Telleen,  D.D. 
1602  Huighitt  Ave.,  Superior,  Wis. 


16 


